Happy Birthday Baby
by Sophiacharlotte
Summary: Young Caryl, AU no zombies. Angst
1. Chapter 1

AN: hey this a prompt from Serpentinefire that got away from me.

I do not own or profit from The Walking Dead

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Being nineteen was a hell of a thing. Daryl was sure that for some it was scary, the heavy weight of being an adult stretching out in front of them, the future unknown, but Daryl just felt free.

He'd been free since his daddy died, five years ago, but now it was official. Knowing that no one could ever have that power over him again, to intimidate, fuck to beat him senseless when ever the mood struck was comforting somehow now that it was official.

It's not that he didn't trust Merle. He did, he trusted him. Merle was all that he had the past five years. But Merle was Merle, and Merle would always do what was best for Merle. Knowing that he no longer had to be dragged along by Merle's schemes under the guise of Merle being his guardian and therefore knew what was best was reassuring.

Nineteen was good, it was a solid number. It was everything he had wanted for his birthday.

Well maybe not everything.

His thoughts drifted, as they always did, to her. Carol.

His thoughts were troubled, wondering if she was ok tonight.

They had met when he was thirteen. She had just moved to town. His daddy had been at his absolute worse then, he'd gone to school early just to avoid when the old man woke up sober and hung over. Sometimes those were the worst times.

He'd been behind the school, smoking. At thirteen he'd started smoking, he'd needed something, anything to help calm his rattled nerves. Living in the Dixon household at the time was like walking on thin ice. You never knew when the old man would loose it, you'd never know when he would come at you.

Around the corner had come a group of ten boys. He couldn't remember who, looking back he was pretty sure they had followed him.

His school had been full of idiot kids. Boys that thought since Daryl was a loner who smoked and wore his brothers old leather jacket he was someone that needed to be fought with to prove their toughness. He just wanted to be left alone.

He'd been surrounded by ten boys, as they had taunted him, each one feeding off the energy of each other. Mob mentality causing a frenzy in their little minds as they punched and kicked at him. Trying to bring him down to the ground.

He didn't go down easy, a lifetime of beatings had assured that Daryl Dixon knew how to take a punch. The frenzied mob had only escalated at that.

He'd been sure he was going to die, or at least get severely injured when the biggest of the group had put him down and started to kick him in the gut.

He couldn't fight anymore, and suddenly out of nowhere a large rock had hit his attacker on the head.

The group had turned, surprised by the sight of the new girl. Piles of rocks beside her that she was currently pelting at the boys attacking him with deadly accuracy.

"What the hell? Are you crazy?" They had belted out, some snapping out of their frenzied state becoming nervous at the state Daryl was in, squirming at the thought of detention, they had run off as she had pelted them with rocks, unafraid.

When they were gone, she'd knelt beside him.

"Are you ok?" She asked, softly her fingertips cautiously moving across his stomach. He didn't even flinch which was new.

"I'm okay..." He grunted. Sitting up.

She sat back with a humph onto to her butt, resting her arms on her knees sitting there watching him with a concerned look as he got himself together.

"Ya got a set a balls on ya... Going after those boys like that." He grunted wheezing at the pain in his stomach.

"Carol" she said softly.

"What..?"

"My name is Carol, I'm not a boy.." Her voice was almost a whisper.

There was no way he could have mistaken her for a boy. Her hair alone would prevent that. Her red locks hung in ringlets down her back.

"I know you ain't a boy.." He started to say then stopped as he saw her grin. She was real pretty when she smiled. He blushed at the thought putting his head down and grunted. "I'm Daryl." He muttered.

She stood then brushing her hands off her knees. Her hand extending to his to help him up.

"Pleased to meet you." And with that she'd become his best friend. The day his life had changed.

They were both similar in their need to be alone. She had no desire to make friends with the girls of the school who could never understand her situation.

Where his daddy had been a mean drunk, hers had just been mean. A psychotic asshole who took pleasure in tormenting his wife and daughter.

Carol's mom was a pale sickly little woman. The few times Daryl had met her he'd gotten the impression of someone just putting in time waiting to die. Her mother was never able to stand up to her father cowering in fear at the man. He never hit Carol at first, but she had told him many times the looks he sent her were worst. Like he was watching, waiting.

Carol and Daryl became inseparable. She was the only constant in his life as he faced his dad's drunken fist and she faced her dad's rage. They were outcasts but didn't mind. She was the only thing that helped him survive.

Her smile was what he lived for, what kept him going at night when things were getting worse at his house. She was his life line, the only thing that fucking mattered, the only good thing left in his life.

That smile got a lots less frequent as she got older. She would try to get in between her mom and dad, to protect her mom. Her mom had been diagnosed with cancer, and Carol had become her fierce protector. She refused to let her dad get to her mom, most days she ended up being the recipient of her dad's rage.

It enraged Daryl. He felt helpless. His life was getting better, especially once his dad died. Hers was getting worse. Her mom became weaker and weaker and Carol took her dad's rage. She would show up at his house, late at night, her face swollen and bruised. Making him promise not to go after her dad. He'd only agreed because

she had come there for comfort, because she needed him.

They hadn't taken their relationship to the next level past friendship. Although it wasn't because he didn't want too. They had been just trying to survive their damaging home lifes. He cared about her though, if he was honest he loved her. She was the only thing he ever wanted.

Then he had gotten accepted to trade school and was working part time, and she was taking care of her mother who was dying. Putting off her dreams, staying in that hellish house to take care of her mom. She'd told him she couldn't abandon her mom. Life had been a overwhelming Avalanche. They had both just tried to keep their heads above water.

Tonight it was his birthday, and hers too. An ironic twist of faith they shared the same day. He had the week off from school it was technically what passed for reading week for trade school, he'd wanted nothing but to spend the night with her, to maker smile like he'd missed her smile.

But she needed to stay with her mom. That took most her time now as her mom neared the end. Carol seemed to be fading away to nothing.

A soft knock at the door knocked him from his thoughts. Merle was gone on a week long hunting trip with his buddies. He'd asked Daryl to go, but he couldn't because of school, so he had the small house to himself. It was a nice change of pace, but he figured as he padded softly to the door it must have been one of Merle's asshole friends.

The door opened up and she was standing on his step, in the rain. Her face a mask of pain, her eye rapidly swelling shut. She looked up at him, hers eyes almost broken.

"She's gone" she whispered softly.

"You ain't ever going back."

"I know." She whispered as he grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the rain.

It was silent in the house, the rain echoing on the old tin roof, the street light casting a glow in the kitchen as she stood shivering staring at the floor.

He grabbed her hand pulling her down the short hall to his room, where she settled in a daze on his bed.

"Carol"

She didn't move. Didn't look up. He settled on his knees in between her legs. It was closer than he'd ever allowed himself to get. Close as he always dreamed.

She looked up at him her heart breaking in her eyes. "She's gone Daryl."

"I know"

He didn't know what else to do, but put his face in her neck, giving her something to hold on to. A lifeline.

She held his shoulders tightly her body racked with shivers.

"Yer freezing." He whispered. Running his hand up and down her arms. Pulling back he watched her face. He grabbed an old T shirt of his that she liked, and looked at her in question.

"Ya wanna change?" He asked softly.

She nodded and lifted her arms up her eyes still lost.

Every bit of her skin that he revealed was more heartbreaking then the next. Bruises seem to litter her skin. Cross crossing her pale flesh. He threw her wet sweater on the floor and covered her with his t shirt quickly, as she stared off into space. She had recently started leaving things that were important to her and her clothing little by little in his room. They had both known once she was able to flee her dad, she would never be able to go back.

But he knew she loved to wear his shirts, something he never quite understood. They dwarfed her to her knees. It was did something funny inside his chest when he saw her, dressed in his shirt. She looked so small and vulnerable but she was the strongest person he'd ever met.

He helped her smooth it down over her body, and flushed brightly as he watched her move her hands under her shirt removing her bra in a practiced move shoving it out the armhole. His face flamed as she stood up in a daze as she popped the button on her pants and kicked them off then climbed under the blankets, her back to him rolling to the wall.

He stood there watching her back. The soft movement of her breathing. Before he pulled off his shirt and climbed in next to her, rolling to spoon her back. His arm around her waist as he pulled her into him.

"Will Merle mind if I stay here until I get on my feet?" She whispered softly.

"Don't care if he does." He murmured into her neck, then heard her breathing even out as she drifted to sleep.

He pressed a few kisses to her neck, brushing her hair away from her face.

"Happy Birthday baby." He whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: so I was cleaning up my works in progress and I remembered I had always meant to post another chapter to this and I had a few notes written so I decided to finish it off.

I do not own or profit from The Walking Dead

Chapter 2

A year had passed, a year of more changes then Daryl ever thought possible, some he wished were not possible.

Merle had gone to jail. Busted with more drugs then Daryl wanted to think about, sent away for five years, with parole in more than likely in three. It had happened a few months after his birthday. The Birthday he and Carol shared. Daryl was going to be twenty years old, in a few days. He was proud of himself, that he was making it on his own, but he wasn't alone. Carol still lived with him.

The year had flown by, and their never seemed to be enough time. Time to establish what they were, time to become what they wanted to be, or what he wanted to be. Life was always determined to throw a curveball.

She grieved for her mother, for months seeming to walk around in a haze, finding a job, to help with expenses, but not really living. She got up, she went to work, she ate, she slept, she showered. But that was about it. She kept her feelings tightly bottled to herself. She was afraid to feel.

But every night she climbed into his bed, that vulnerable look in her eyes, like she needed him to hold her, to make it through the night. It was killing him slowly every night to hold her every night. He never wanted anything so badly in his whole life, but he forced himself to wait, to let her heal. All night long he held her close, waking her when she had nightmares, or comforting her when she cried out in her sleep. Until one night she broke, sobbing into his neck while she held on to him so tightly. Breaking his heart as her raw pain was so visible.

She seemed better, little by little. Merle going to jail had given them much needed privacy they both desperately needed. The house although run down, was his free and clear. He worked a job and still went to school and she was working while she tried to figure out what she wanted to do. At home they had peace, they could decompress. They could simply be, without fear or flinching. They were everything to each other, but still not at the next level yet. Despite how much he ached, longed to kiss her, to touch her body and claim her as his own, Daryl wouldn't push anything on her she didn't want.

Then Merle was murdered in prison and Daryl fell apart. So many nights spent in her arms as she comforted him this time, showing in return just how much she cared.

The state, had been found liable for Merle's death. Seemed a guard who had taken a dislike to Merle had intentionally put him at risk. Turned the other way, when he was attacked. Daryl had been offered a settlement from the government so he would not sue. He took it for one reason, one reason only. Carol. He wanted to provide for her, to make sure she was okay. To get her out of this crappy neighbourhood.

There was enough money to buy a small three bedroom house in a middle class area of town. A new truck, and car and to pay for Carol to go to school. She had decided to go back to school to become a nurse, she'd been accepted into a program at the same college and trade school he'd recently attended. He'd graduated and was a certified mechanic, a job already waited for him.

She'd been so proud at his graduation ceremony. The small ceremony held by the college. She didn't know about the house or the car or tuition. The one time he'd tried to talk to her about it, she'd been confused wondering why he was asking her what to do with his money. To him it was their money, blood money maybe, not earned, but given in a way that made him angry, but for once he was going to take all the shit in his life and turn it into something good. Something beautiful. To him it was their money because to him, they were already together in his heart.

It was their birthday in two days, and he intended to surprise her, and if fate would allow it without throwing more crap their way, tell her how he felt.

Xxxx

That night came and he'd asked her what she wanted to do, he'd wanted to take her anywhere she wanted, hell he wanted to give her the world, as far as he was concerned it was the first night of the rest of their lives.

She'd wanted to stay home, maybe get take out she'd said. His little hermit he'd thought with a grin, it was exactly what he wanted too.

He picked up some take out from an Italian restaurant on the way home from work. It started raining on his way home, a storm had been brewing all day. As he headed home he realized the power must be out.

The house was quiet and dark when he got home. The rain was pounding on the old tin roof as he called out. "Carol?" He heard her call out that she was in the bedroom, and made his way in the darkness towards it.

He let out a gasp, as he opened the door, the room was light by candles, and she was standing there in the middle of the room, wearing a slip, barefoot, her hair trailing down her back.

The door clicked back as he he leaned against it heavily, a little weak in the knees. Neither had spoken, just staring at each other across the room, knowing so much was going to change, saying so much in a glance.

She started to walk forward towards him, her smile lighting up her face. She was happy, she was truly happy he realized. Daryl wasn't sure the last time he'd seen her look so happy. Maybe never.

She stopped in front of him, her toes touching his, her head cocked to the side like she was contemplating something, then lifted her hand up to touch his cheek. She cupped her hand on his cheek, and he noticed it was shaking. He put his hand on top of hers, squeezing it softly. Turning his head he kissed her palm, and he saw her eyes close, revelling in his touch.

"I wanted to give you something for our birthday..." she whispered. "but nothing seemed right..except this." She murmured. She stepped forward hesitantly and brushed her lips sweetly across his. He groaned wrapping his arms around her, pulling her in closer. Tonight was supposed to be about him giving to her, showing her how much he loved her but she'd managed to surprise him yet again. His fingers threaded through her hair. He would spend the rest of his life making her happy.

"This is what I have to give.." she whispered "I love you...Happy Birthday Baby."


End file.
